Help with some Character Aspects!

[destrieth]

help me obi-wan kenobi, you're my only hope! (first post in this here fine community, woop)

actually, it's more like a friend needs your help; we've played some games, and like any FATE game we're having some growing pains, figuring out what aspects are solid, what needs to change, etc...

anyway, we have a character with this list of aspects:

Fiona MacLaren

Shorthand List:
MacLaren Sword-Maiden
Thirst for Battle
Chosen by Caladbolg
Unbreakable Bonds
“Yeh Dunnae Scare Me”
“You're Better Than This”
Blood of Kings

essentially the character is a modern day scottish warrior, wielder of a legendary sword used by a clan chieftain way back when (similar to a sword of the cross but not as widely powerful)

she fights alongside her twin sister, a warden with some serious mojo; they're basically both magical prodigies who channel their abilities in different ways.

we've already done some work with the first three aspects so don't focus on those so much, but the last three are kind of sticklers. they all sort of overlap and we'd like to maybe diversify/reword them... or maybe come up with whole new ones! any suggestions, community? anything is really on the table here - even if it doesn't get used it'll get us thinking in new directions which is always a plus.

[Sanctaphrax]

Welcome onboard.

Maybe something to do with her day-to-day life would be good. Does she have a day job?

[destrieth]

you hit the nail on the head there, sanctaphrax;

we've done some revisions in preparation for tonight's session:

Carrier of Legendary Caladbolg (high concept)
Thirst for Battle (trouble)
Perfectionist
Unbreakable Bonds
Heart of a Warrior, Body of a Princess
Faust Signs My Paychecks
Blood of Kings

we're still trying to work them but progress has definitely been made. faust is a wyld fae lord in our town who basically runs the oldest library in boston and wheels and deals in information; fiona works as a barrista/shopkeep at that library so you've got the literal sense of the aspect as well as the metaphorical.

[Sanctaphrax]

Looks like an improvement to me.

Though PERFECTIONIST is a bit dull-sounding. Maybe that one could use a bit more development.

[UmbraLux]

Welcome!

Aspects can be fun or frustrating.  One question to always ask yourself:  How will this affect my character for good and ill?  If you can't come up with specifics quickly, it will probably be even harder for the GM.  Asking yourself the H5W questions (How? Who? What? When? Where? Why) when trying to make an aspect more specific often helps.

Take "Perfectionist" as an example - asking 'How?' might bring up "Meticulous Perfectionist" or "Accidental Perfectionist" which result in completely different flavor.  'Who?' is probably just yourself but it could be "Boss with Perfectionist Expectations" in another character.  'What?' may focus it if you want - "Strategic Perfectionist" or "Perfectionist Scholar" for example.  Asking 'When?' could focus it to a situation "Perfectionist in Crisis" or relate to a time of your life "Perfectionist Parents" (could also be who in this case).  'Where?' could imply locations "Perfectionist Worker" or even profession "Perfectionist Chef".  Finally, 'Why?' covers anything from goals "Perfection will Prevent Failure" to history "Perfection Will Prevent My Partners from Dying".

Just keep asking yourself questions until you have an aspect you like which gives easy answers to our first question - "How will this affect my character for good and ill?"

[destrieth]

okay - sanctaphrax has been super helpful, and thanks for the input UmbraLux! we're actually working on this right now in real-time, so here's the list as of now; i'm also going to include my character, Fiona's twin sister Alice, to provide yet more context. mine i'm pretty much satisfied with, so here we go:

Alice MacLaren

Shorthand list:
Warden of Clan MacLaren
Stubborn as Hell
Daddy Issues
Overwhelming Magic
Gentle Soul
I’m Not Perfect
I’ve Got Fiona’s Back... Unfortunately

Fiona MacLaren

Shorthand List:
Carrier of Legendary Caladbolg
Thirst for Battle
Mommy Issues
Unbreakable Bonds
Heart of a Warrior, Body of a Princess
Faust Signs My Paychecks
Blood of Kings

where we're stuck is Blood of Kings. the trappings of that aspect have been rolled into the others before it so we're struggling with that one now.

[destrieth]

okay, we've nailed the last aspect to "Heart on My Sleeve", consider this crisis averted! now we can actually play